Page 78 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
Kase swallowed the fear vying for his attention. “It might’ve been another bombing run. Close, too.”
But why were they targeting an empty city?
Unless they knew about the bunkers.
The thought chilled Kase to the core.
With his racing thoughts under control for the moment, Kase nodded to Stowe, and they continued down the corridor. He kept the lower part of his face covered and the pistol gripped in his hand. He headed toward the light. It was probably just an open window allowing the moonlight to seep underneath the door, but it might be a survivor. A stupid one, if they were using a light, which would only serve as a beacon for anyone looking up at the Jayde Center—especially with the rest of the city blanketed in darkness—but one that might at least be able to give him a hint about his family’s whereabouts.
As they crept closer, Kase heard low voices coming from beyond the door; he stopped and cocked his pistol, Stowe nearly stepping on the backs of his boots.
Kase pulled his pistol closer to his body and pointed the barrel skyward, his muscles tense. He nodded at Stowe before creeping closer.
The nondescript door bore a simple plaque—some secretary’s office. His father’s was just around the corner, if he remembered correctly. It’d been a while since he’d visited him at the Jayde Center.
He didn’t press his ear to the wood, but he put it so close to the crack that he could hear the muffled argument within. The first man spoke with the elongated ‘s’ sounds of a Cerl.
Kase gripped his pistol tighter and prepared to swerve aside, aiming for his father’s office instead. If Cerl soldiers werehere, he’d rather avoid a fight. He could take them, but he was more worried about Stowe.
But then another man spoke. A voice as familiar to Kase as his own.
I know where to find that pretty redhead you stumble around after, that voice had said one of the last times he’d heard it.
Fire caught in Kase’s blood. Without thinking much further than his rage, he kicked in the door. It slammed against the wall, the plaque clattering to the floor.
Both men inside looked up, hands flying to pistols at their sides. The Cerl drew his faster, aiming the barrel at Kase’s head.
Kase didn’t hesitate. He swung his own pistol at the Cerl soldier and fired.
Not even a Cerl was fast enough to dodge this close. But outside of a hover, Kase didn’t have the most consistent aim—the fiery blue bullet hit the man’s shoulder instead of his chest. He collapsed against the heavy desk sitting in the middle of the room, his pistol skittering across the floor and hitting the opposite wall. Blood-sprayed papers and maps and loose fountain pens skidded across the surface. The only item to avoid the destruction was the gas lantern closer to where Eravin Gray stood, blinking at Kase like he was bored.
Kase was milliseconds away from shooting that smug look off Eravin’s face when the man took his own pistol, put the barrel to the Cerl’s forehead, and pulled the trigger.
Kase flinched from the sound, shutting his eyes tight. Nausea flooded his system; he had to grit his teeth on a gag.Not in front of Eravin.
“You’re late,” Eravin said calmly, as if he hadn’t just executed a man at point-blank range.
Kase held up his pistol with a shaking hand, the adrenaline of pure survival instinct draining away, shock replacing it with ashiver. He didn’t look at the dead Cerl. The body slid off the desk and thumped onto the floor.
Stowe started forward, but Kase caught him with his free hand, holding him back; he didn’t take his eyes or weapon off Eravin. His jaw hurt from clenching it so hard. All he heard in his head was the scream of the Cerl as Kase had shot him. All he could feel was the rage and triumph and guilt of his own actions, and then the horror of Eravin’s.
I cannot lose myself here.
He shoved his conscious mind through, pressing his feet against the floor to ground himself, but that floor was marred by a pool of blood seeping closer to Kase’s dusty boots. He breathed as deeply as he could through his nose, but his lungs weren’t working properly. They ached. He smelled iron.
Eravin tilted his head. “I was trying to pry him for information, but it seems you still can’t keep your temper.”
Stowe spoke up. “He’s still breathing. I might could…”
Eravin brought up his pistol and pointed it at Stowe. Kase jumped in front of him, arms spread as he blurted, “I thought One World was working with the Cerls.”
Not letting the pistol drop, Eravin said, “Usually.” When Kase didn’t back down, he sighed and lowered the weapon. “If you have information I can sell, I’ll let you live. Even if that might not be for very long.”
The pistol cooled in Kase’s hand. He could shoot him. He could take care of any future issues right then. This man had gone off the deep end and blackmailed him. He was dangerous.
Except, once upon a time, he’d been one of Kase’s closest friends.
He chewed on the inside of his cheek. Could he use Eravin? If the man had any connection to the Cerls at all, Kase could leverage what he learned to buy his own freedom if need be. However, was it moral to use someone for the present, only tobetray them later…even in the name of the greater good? Would that make him just as bad as Eravin?
